A Democratic senator suggested Monday that President Donald Trump might be inspired by North Korea's "dear leader" cult of personality, shortly after Trump quipped that Democrats committed "treason" when they did not applaud his State of the Union.

U.S. disarmament ambassador Robert Wood, addressing the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, refused to mince his words as he hit out at Washington's nuclear rivals and issued a terrifying warning and North Korea's increasingly sophisticated weapons programme.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood (R) waits next to U.S. Army Captain Murzban Morris of the Departement of Defense Joint Staff before their address on North Korea to the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland August 30, 2017.

"Like many, we are deeply concerned about the potential consequences of a preemptive military strike on North Korea and the risks of miscalculation and retaliation", the senators wrote.

A new United States nuclear policy review outlined last week "reaffirms that North Korea's illicit nuclear programme must be completely, verifiably, and irreversibly eliminated, resulting in a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons", he said.

Wood later told Reuters that he had "no new information to share" when questioned on the basis for his assessment of North Korea's missile technology.

North Korea tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-14, twice last July.

North Korea is under tightening UN Security Council sanctions for its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. It is not yet believed to have the capability to mount a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile.

North Korea has shown a conciliatory stance toward South Korea by sending athletes to the PyeongChang Olympic Games, but continues denouncing the US. He also said arsenals in China and Russian Federation were expanding, drawing rebukes from their respective delegations.

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